Francisco Lopez
Francisco Lopez Feed
Daily Dakar Diary | Day 13: Shifting through the sands of time Jan 14, 2012
Tourists visiting the world-famous Nazca Lines were treated to some high-speed action as the 2012 Dakar Rally barrelled through on its way towards the finish line in Lima…
Daily Dakar Diary | Day 12: A game of cat and mouse Jan 13, 2012
As the Dakar Rally hits Peru, multiple Dakar champions Cyril Despres and Marc Coma are playing a high-speed game of cat and mouse...
Daily Dakar Diary | Day 11: It's a marathon not a sprint Jan 12, 2012
As the 2012 Dakar Rally pauses on Chile’s border with Peru there’s barely a blade of grass between Cyril Despres and Marc Coma at the top of the standings...
Daily Dakar Diary | Day 10: Back to Basics Jan 11, 2012
A marathon stage through the fesh-fesh of the Atacama Desert ended by plunging the competitors from high up in the dunes to the shoreline of the Pacific Ocean
Dakar Rally: Francisco Lopez in Copiapo | Photostory Jan 10, 2012
As Francisco “Chaleco” Lopez retires from the Dakar Rally with a knee injury, we take a look at an uplifting series of photos shot by Alfredo Escobar during the training sessions in December....
Daily Dakar Diary | Day 8: Stuck in the mud Jan 10, 2012
Things got very messy for the leading bikers upon the resumption of the 2012 Dakar Rally... Cyril Despres was among those who got stuck in the mud.
Francisco's Details
About Francisco
By 1989, he was Latin American Champion at 85cc and he has a number of domestic 125cc and 250cc titles to his name, as well the 2006 450cc off-road World Cup title.
Following second place in the 2008 Dakar Series Central Europe Rally, the relocation of the Rallye Dakar to South America in 2009 was a great move for Francisco, who won his first Dakar stage just as the race left Argentina for his home country.
In 2010, he won the 5th, 8th and 12th stages of the Dakar Rally finishing in 3rd place overall and 1st place in the 450cc category. He also won the FIM Rally in Tunisia in the same year.
His nickname is ‘Chaleco’ the Spanish for ‘vest’, the same as was originally given to his father because of the woollen vest his wife Ana María (Francisco’s mother) made for him to wear during events!
